Having lost Kris Marshall (Nick) to his desire to pursue others roles perhaps the incentive the BBC used to keep Robert Lindsay (Ben) and Zoe Wannamaker (Susan) with the show was allowing them to do other projects while the show was in production.
So, from this point on 'My Family' would have Ben/Susan free episodes, or them only appearing briefly.
This is the first of those. With Ben away, Susan and Janey are charmed by a stand-in dentist, while Michael tries to use the family's postcode to get a boy into a nearby school, resulting in a funny scene where the family have to play along.
This is very much a caper with Wannamaker at the centre, but all the other cast members do have their moments.
Michael is still being written (as he was at times throughout S5) as being a mini Nick, full of schemes, but it works well here.
This was a fun episode, that didn't fall apart in Lindsay's absence.
So, from this point on 'My Family' would have Ben/Susan free episodes, or them only appearing briefly.
This is the first of those. With Ben away, Susan and Janey are charmed by a stand-in dentist, while Michael tries to use the family's postcode to get a boy into a nearby school, resulting in a funny scene where the family have to play along.
This is very much a caper with Wannamaker at the centre, but all the other cast members do have their moments.
Michael is still being written (as he was at times throughout S5) as being a mini Nick, full of schemes, but it works well here.
This was a fun episode, that didn't fall apart in Lindsay's absence.